Book Review – A Provocative challenge to mainstream religion

Oct 13, 2013 News

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Book: God vs. Judaism and Christianity

God vs. Judaism and Christianity is a cleverly written treatise. Panamanian-born Theo Chambers, of Jamaican heritage, uses his distinguished military and legal experience to fashion a thesis based on Socratic enquiry.
He demands evidence, not blind faith in Judaic and Christian beliefs. He assails the Church for failing to accept new evidence that proves the spurious foundation of its divine truths.
Here, two of the world’s great religions are hauled before an imaginary Supreme Court of World Spiritual Justice to answer questions on their authenticity, if not, their moral and ethical standing.
Chambers serves as defence attorney, shielding God from the gross dogma, edicts and statements made in His name.
Chambers’ argument is pointed. In God vs. Judaism and Christianity, his client has been misrepresented and relegated to the role of puppeteer, deciding the fate of the world.
The crux of Chambers’ position centres on Genesis and the Tree of Life. Judeo-Christian doctrines are deemed tenuous, at best.
The reader must wrestle with the author’s persistence. Why does God give us free will only to castigate those who exercise this divine gift?
This is a nagging question that has elicited questionable answers from religious pundits. That we have free will with the power to ensure life’s continuity through procreation may force us to reexamine Psalm 82:6 and John 34:10.
We are unique, no doubt. “Ye are gods,” no less. Such a truth turns Western religion on its head and strips the sacerdotal class of their unrivaled power.
Surely we are not created to bend to the will, tirades and vengeance of a human-like God. Chambers has touched a nerve.
At the same time he questions the infallibility of sacred books, many of which he argues, have been purposefully doctored. Of the Christian manuscripts which eventually formed the Bible, he cites the 3rd century Church Father Origen:
”The difference among the manuscripts have become great, either through the negligence of some copyists or through the perverse audacity of others: they either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they made additions, or deletions as they please.”
Chambers’ work is exhaustive and multilayered, forming a brew of science, philosophy, metaphysics, history and logic.
He advocates a bare form of deism that bleeds with the ambassadorial refrain of Jane Robert’s New Ageism and Channeling: “We create our own reality…our own heaven and hell.”
It is a message long proliferated by channeled spirits. Indeed, Chambers is an unapologetic proponent of God’s immanence and the natural laws that have been set in motion.
Humankind has, and will continue to pay a hefty fine for violating the sanctity of God’s creation.
It is an anthropomorphic God that Chambers rejects. God, he asserts, has regrettably been given human attributes. We have created a dreadful, jealous and spiteful deity, to our detriment.
This impedes our ability to question, reason and grow spiritually. He cites Thomas Paine:”The word of God is the creation we behold, and it is this word which no human invention can counterfeit or alter that God speaketh universally to man.”
Chambers’ thesis is hardly original and reads like a corollary of the far more cryptic, ”Isis Unveiled” by Madam Blavatsky.
Neither does it mirror the academic rigor of Professor Yosef Ben-Jochannan’ signature work, “African Origins of Major Western Religions.” It is far more concise and didactic.
Admirably, Chambers congeals a mountain of data into a compelling literary gestalt, and does present a convincing case, albeit with some hiccups. To Judeo-Christian apologists, this work will prove antagonistic, or, even vexing.
On the symbolic witness stand, Judaism’s origins are questioned, and the polemics over the messianic nature of Jesus and his virgin birth are introduced.
Chambers proceeds to question the contradictions between the Old and New Testaments and the pagan origins of Christian lore are also outlined.
In his cross examination of the Pope, Christianity’s representative, Chambers is unrelenting, almost contemptuous with a prosecutorial display that is intimidating. He barrels through history, impugning the Church for its judicial and canonical excesses.
The infamous sex abuse scandals that have ravaged the institution’s moral standing are fair game. Chambers’ pen is sword-like, edgy and biting. His righteous indignation is palpable.
The Pope’s testimony, transmitted via satellite, is aborted by his handlers, supposedly caused by some technical problems. The Church’s history is indefensible.
Admittedly, the author’s arguments are plausible, at times, irrefutable.
However, Chambers’ target is Judeo-Christian fundamentalism, a movement that does not represent the multiple strains of the faith. It’s a one size fit all approach that offers a provincial view of quite a complex subject.
Further, in favouring spirituality over religious dogma, the author has ignored the many cases of psychological, moral and spiritual bankruptcy that have blighted New Age movements.
Yet, one cannot dismiss or devalue the relevance of this work, especially at a time when every major global conflict is cloaked in religious dogma. Surely, the sacred books are fodder for sectarianism and internecine barbarity.
Yes, religious apologists will respond that atheists have been equally dastardly, citing the genocidal rampages of Cambodia’s “Killing Fields,” and Mao’s Cultural Revolution as examples. But never have these villains vouched for God’s love and compassion.
Can Judeo-Christian Thought ever be vindicated? Interestingly, the Dalai Lama, one of Chambers’ mentors, offers this much: The best religion is the one that gets you closer to God. It is one that makes you a better person…whatever makes you more compassionate, more humanitarian…”
Countless Christians and Jews would concur with his every word, thereby shielding their faiths from Chambers’ withering indictment.
Then again, “if ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.”

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God vs. Judaism and Christianity: Venue –The Supreme Court of World Spiritual Justice Case # 3 Truth 2012
Author: Theo Chambers(
Publisher: Temple of Inner Peace, Panama
ISBN 0-9779716-0-0(
Available: Amazon.com(
Rating: Highly recommended

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